I realized I announced the CD everywhere except on our email list, so I extended the $8.99 special for a few more days to give those people a chance to grab the deal. The new deadline for the $8.99 special on this is October 14.

I started typing a review for this in the "Reviews" section and ran out of room. I guess there's a character limit(?) Please let me know any suggestions for submitting a review that is longer than usual, or if you could use such a review...

I know there's a maximum post length limit here because I've run into it myself. I don't know the exact nature of the limit offhand (words, characters or however it's measured) but I'll investigate and report back.

The limit was set to 20,000 characters which is about 5,000 words. I doubled the limit which should be more than long enough. If you write more than a 10,000 word review I'm gonna be really impressed (or something).

It appears that I mistakenly ended the special $8.99 deal for Seren Ffordd & Oophoi's THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES too early. Apparently I misunderstood my own email annoucement!

For those of you who ordered during the brief period yesterday when I re-set the price from $12.99 to $8.99, we're reducing your charge by $4 to adjust for this. The price on the store has been restored to $8.99 through today, when it returns to the long-term price of $12.99 Sorry for the error!

Hi, Wasnt sure where to put this post but can anyone recommend any highly good space ambient. Enjoying SRF - NOSTROMO and A.DENT/DEEPER THAN SPACE - DRIFT at mo and want more of the same. Much appreciated. Jonathan. JONQPR@HOTMAIL.COM

It's a very nice disc. A bit complex, and it's a taking a while for me to absorb it all, but I like it, especially the first and last tracks. Parts of it also sound like those NASA Jupiter recordings form a few years back, or maybe even the monolith scene in Kubrick's 2001.

The book has both it's detractors and fans - the writing is deceptively simple, no space chases or pyrotechnics, descriptions even sparse at some times.

But the story the words create is very complex - the Martians different in each chapter and with a subtle depth to the reflection of humanity both individual and in groups. (of course this might just be a result of my reading it when young and impressionable).

The album evolved and although initially taken aback when Mike used the word complex in the release notes, I take it as a compliment

"The Martian Chronicles" by Seren Ffordd and O÷phoi is an album of sparse, atmospheric electronic music inspired by the classic SF novel written by Ray Bradbury. The album takes its inspiration from the Martian aspects of the novel in particular, opening with a fifteen minute cut 'The Long Years,' which through a combination of perfectly judged drones, synths and deeply reverberated sounds evokes the coldness and distance of the environment. 'Dead Cities' brings in a different set of textures to the mix, based on a drone that sounds like a long, alien breath, breathing in, out, in... haunting and effective. Half way through, the textures change to bring a more technological feel to the sound. 'Blue Fire,' the third fifteen-minute cut, continues the theme of slow drift drones overlaid with mysterious effects, this time sounding like reverberated voices, though they're probably synths. 'End Of A Changeling' plays with the structure of the book and the album, which is presented in reverse order; the cut is brief, composed of sections from all the other tracks mixed by Seren Ffordd into a pivot, around which the album turns. 'Canals' brings field recordings of water into the mix, while 'Flamebirds Waiting For The Storm' features weirdly mutated bird sounds to create a particularly effective and atmospheric track. Album closer 'Unremembered' features a synth drone like a heavenly choir, completing the experience in suitable style. For those who've read the book, this ambient delight will be an intriguing discovery. ( www.hypnos.com )

Thanks, thanks, thanks. I'm very proud of this collaboration with my friend Andy, and your words give me the strength to explore more in the field of abstract space music.Thanks also to Mike and Lena for their support, I love this digipack!

"The Martian Chronicles" by Seren Fford + Oophoi, apparently inspired by Ray Bradbury's story collection of the same name, is a haunting and deeply immersive sonic voyage to multiple alien worlds. While certainly evocative of the Martian setting, TMC is just as easily placed closer to home, say, in the romantic lost cities of ancient Mesoamerica or the Central Asian Silk Road; or even within the microcosm of our own minds, in the uncharted bottomless regions of our unconscious, peopled by numinous forces and archetypes, beings as foreign from our normal selves as the remotest galaxies.

Since I'm unfamiliar with Bradbury's work, I enjoy the music best with a sort of visualization.

For example, as the music starts, let's imagine ourselves transported to a bleak wind-swept land/mind-scape (Track 1 - The Long Years). In the wind's furious howls, we make out voices: murmurs(?) or incantations(?) in an unknown vanished tongue.

When the wind dies down and the dust settles, we see the crumbling fantastic architecture of great cities, the ruins of a civilization long forgotten (Track 2 - Dead Cities). As we touch the decaying walls, we feel like walking in a dream or witnessing some secret shamanic vision (Track 3 - Blue Fire). The voices are growing louder; the buildings are taking on a newer sheen. The silent cities are coming back to life!

Night falls; the shadows stretch and disappear into the darkness (Track 4 - End of a Changeling). The weird vision continues, bringing back long-gone sounds and memories, the unfamiliar ghosts of the vanished people (Track 5 - Canals).

Suddenly, our trance breaks. It was just an illusion after all. This world is long dead. Its only inhabitants now are grotesque bird-like creatures that watch us threateningly from the collapsing roofs (Track 6 - Flamebirds Waiting for the Storm).

Yet why do the faces of these beasts bear mournful, almost human expressions? Are they perhaps reflecting on life's brief span, on the vanity of existence and power, as if too much fallen glory had softened even their brutish hearts? No, the noxious alien atmosphere is just playing tricks on our sensibilities. This world died long ago (Track 7 - Unremembered). If there had been any mourners, they didn't have long to await their turn.

End of visualization. Well, you get the idea now. 'Mars' is not a planet, it's a state of mind. The setting could really be anywhere strange and special to your imagination. Wherever you find yourself, TMC, this ambient masterpiece, will work invariably well.

"The Martian Chronicles" is a 74-minute longform album inspired by Ray Bradbury's short science fiction story by the same name. It is the first collaborative album between O÷phoi (aka Italian drone expert Gianluigi Gasparetti) and Welch soundscape composer Seren Ffordd (aka Andy Benford).

What we got here is a deep and immersive work of cinematic ambient that took about three years in the making. The seven tracks feature vast, dark and slow morphing drone textures along field recordings and percussion, making up an intense trip into a mysterious and alienating world with psychedelic edges.

"The Martian Chronicles" is a spacious recording meant for deeper and focussed listening, that seems to submerge the listener even more when heard with a good pair of headphones. If youĺre into dense ambient art works with both subtle changes along fine environmental sounds, this quality album is for you.